Blame, insults traded over credit downgrade on Sunday shows

The bleaker effects of the nation’s credit downgrade could be clearer Monday when the markets open, but Sunday’s back-and-forth on morning news shows over where to stick the blame was a grim portent of prospects for a bipartisan solution.

John Chambers, managing director of Standard & Poor’s, warned that the nation faces a one-in-three chance of a further reduction in creditworthiness.

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“If the fiscal position of the United States deteriorates further or if the political gridlock becomes more entrenched, that could lead to a downgrade,” Chambers said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.”

The political gridlock that contributed to S&P’s decision to make the first-ever reduction in the nation’s AAA credit rating to AA+ was evident Sunday, with members of both parties agreeing the blame is shared — but mostly the other guy’s fault.

“If we had defaulted on our debt, the consequences would have been dramatic and lasting,” Obama 2012 campaign strategist David Axelrod said on “Face the Nation” on CBS.

“It was the wrong thing to do to push the country to that point,” Axelrod said. “It was something that should never have happened that clearly is on the backs of those who were willing the see the country default: those very strident voices in the tea party.”

Axelrod called Friday’s action by S&P’s “a tea party downgrade,” a reproach echoed verbatim on NBC’s “Meet the Press” by Democratic Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts.

“I think this is one of the most telling, important moments in our country’s history right now,” Kerry said.
Former Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean took a stronger tone on CBS, suggesting the tea party has been “smoking some of that tea, not just drinking it” and said of the entire default and downgrade morass, “this is a tea party problem.”

“They are totally unreasonable and doctrinaire and not founded in reality,” the former Vermont governor said of the congressional tea party members.

Taking issue on the same CBS program, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said of the tea party, “Thank God they’re here.”

If Congress had listened to the tea party, there would be $4 trillion in deficit reduction in the works, Graham said.

The problems that contributed to the nation’s first-ever credit downgrade preceded the tea party’s arrival in Congress, according to Graham. He said President Barack Obama’s policies have failed to address rising unemployment, plummeting housing prices and soaring gasoline prices.

“If he were in the Southeastern Conference, he would be fired as a coach. He would not have his contract renewed,” Graham said of the president.

Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona called the crisis a failure of leadership — by the president.
“I think it’s failed presidential leadership when you don’t put forward a plan, a specific proposal, to work off of,” McCain said on NBC. “Previous presidents certainly have when we [were] in a crisis. And, by the way, talking about hostages, lately the Democrats have been calling us terrorists. So we need to lower that level of rhetoric, obviously.”

White House officials, meanwhile, continued raising doubts about S&P’s analysis, saying the rating agency relied on flawed math and faulty analysis to reach its conclusion.

The Treasury Department late Friday discovered an accounting error by S&P and in calculating the nation’s ratio of debt to gross domestic product. The ratings agency acknowledged the mistake but downgraded anyway.

Here we are resualt socjal-liberal politics of president-idiot and his liberal idiots. First African-American president of the United States will be remembered in history as the worst, and first who downgraded the fiscal rating our country first time in the history.

Braaaavo, liberal idiots. This label will be shinning on Obama face in every single political campaigne he will ever involved.

The blame game was very predictable, but we need to be accurate about assessing blame or we will not learn from the experience. We had a $4 trillion deal a week before the "mini-deal". Who killed it? Boehner was trying to sell the deal to the Republican caucus in the House and apparently was having great difficulty in selling $800 Billion in new revenues. Obama was trying to sell the deal to Dems in the House and Senate and they insisted on $1,200 Billion in new revenues before touching Medicare etc. Obama caved and called Boehner with a demand for $1,200 and Boehner took the easy out and just said no. From that point it was a miracle we got even the mini-deal. The success of the "supercommittee" will depend entirely on whether people who really want a deal are appointed to it (as opposed to people who regurgitate poll inspired talking points). It will also depend on Obama, Boehner and Reid having the guts to lean on their hardliners if a deal is reached. The odds are not good, but there is a possibility. And if we have success here then maybe real additional reforms can put us on a path to getting the debt back to manageable levels.

The Democrats attacked the last President 24/7 in an incessant drum beat of hate and criticism for 8 years on everything from the way he looked, spoke, dressed, carried himself to attacking his family, father, mother, children.

They savagely attacked the last President on all things – whether he deserved it or not, whether or not any reasonable person thought he actually could control a given situation or not. The Democrat meme was that EVERYTHING that happens under the President’s watch is 100% his fault.

Interesting that now the Democrats are shrieking like petulant, spoiled children now that their Messiah can’t live up to the very same standards that the Democrats demand of other Americans…

Interesting that the very same things they attacked the last President on – the Democrats feverishly attempt to give the current President a pass on.

Thus we can conclude that the Democrats are the most inconsistant, hypocritical PHONIES in America today.

Seems the Democrats would be happy to campaign on the same thing if they could get some tax increases into the mix as well.

Democrats need to do a better job of eliminating waste, fraud and corruption and demanding better value for the taxpayer's dollar before demanding even more money from its citizens.

As is stands now they show no interest doing a better job with what they already take. Their response is always the same: throw more money at the problem and add bureaucracy and if that does not work , demand even more money and more bureaucracy.

It's nothing less than a contemptuous insult to the American taxpayer.

They sent my Census form back! AGAIN!!! In response to the question: "Do you have any dependents ?" I replied - "12 million illegal immigrants ; 3 million crack heads; 42 million unemployable people, 2 million people in over 243 prisons; and 535 IDIOTS in the U.S. House and Senate. Apparently , this was NOT an acceptable answer. Re-post if you agree!! Put that in your pipe and smoke it! Then Push 1 for ENGLISH.

The usual cast of charcaters who got us into this mess are now blaming the Tea Party for bringing us to the brink of default? We were already there -- if anything the Tea Party forced the hand of the liberals. I know a nerve has been struck when I hear these clowns make the Sunday morning rounds with their MSM supporting cast of useful idiots:

"...Axelrod called Friday’s action by Standard & Poor’s “a tea party downgrade,” a reproach echoed verbatim on NBC’s “Meet the Press” by Democratic Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts.

“I think this is one of the most telling, important moments in our country’s history right now,” Kerry said.

Former Democratic Party chairman Howard Dean took a stronger tone on CBS, suggesting the tea party has been “smoking some of that tea, not just drinking it” and said of the entire default and downgrade morass, “this is a tea party problem.”

“They are totally unreasonable and doctrinaire, and not founded in reality,” the former Vermont governor said of the congressional tea party members...."

No liberal, not one, is grounded in fiscal reality Mr. Dean! All you guys know is SPEND, SPEND, SPEND -- spend money you do not have! When liberals get caught with their hands in the cookie jar, they point and say "look there, not here!" Mr. Dean -- question for you sir..... who originated the out of control spending legislation in 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010? Was it a a Democrat Congress or Republican Congress? And who signed all of this spending into law? Gerorge W. Bush and Barack Hussein Obama. I hold Mr. Bush just as accountable as BHO, Howard. But the real out-of-control spending has taken part on Obama's watch, yet you are blaming fiscal conservatives for the downgrade? Isn't S&P saying we need to cut spending? ....the same message as the Tea Party? Mr. Kerry, did you not cast YES votes for all of this spending too? And Mr. Axelrod, were you not part of the inner circle in the WH that pushed out-of-control spending? All three of you clowns are complicit in this! What am I missing here gentlemen?

Free Bird -- tired, old line -- that's not working any longer. We do not have enough rich people in this country to even make a dent in what Obama and the Dems have spent in the last three years (four if you count the Dem Congress and George Bush) -- even if you confiscate 100% of their income you can't make up what the Dems have borrowed and spent. Nice try!